Moran of the Lady Letty

[reconstructed titles]

1
"Two shall be born the 
 whole wide world apart...
And bend each wandering
 step to this one end,
That one day, out of
 darkness, they shall meet
And read life's meaning
 in each other's eyes."

2
Born on the deep and 
rocked to sleep by storms,
this girl-child came of a 
long line of sea-faring 
men.

3
Cradled in luxury this
man-child came to earth,
heir to the aimless life of
a rich man's son.

4
Many years later, in a
Norwegian port - -

5
The trading vessel "Fru
Letty" (The Lady Letty) is
about to sail from her 
home port to the North 
Pacific.

6
Captain Eilert Sternerson,
master and owner, has
only two loves - his
ship and his mother-
less daughter.

	CHARLES BRINLEY.

7
His only child, reared as
a hardy seaman - known
in a hundred ports as
"Moran of the Lady Letty."

	DOROTHY DALTON.

8
The first mate, Nels
Larsen.

	EMILIUS JORGENSEN.

9
In far-off San Fran-
cisco months later, it
is "At-Home" day at the
Herrick place on Nob
Hill.

10
In these years the rich
man's son - Ramon
Laredo - spends the dash
and fire inherited from
his Spanish ancestors in
leading cotillions.

	RUDOLPH VALENTINO.

11
Perhaps because of his
very indifference he has
become the idol of all
the debutantes.

12
In all that crowd there 
is only one girl clever 
enough to gain his 
sympathy - Josephine
Herrick.

	MAUD WAYNE.

13
 "At times I feel like
chucking this crowd -
running away some-
where, just to escape
from it all."

14
 "Don't forget we're
going out on our yacht
next Tuesday - two
o'clock sharp."

15
One of the nine wonders 
of the world - The
Golden Gate.

16
On the way from
British Columbia with
coal for Valparaiso,
the Lady Letty has put
into San Francisco for
additional freight.

17
Among the toys owned 
by the Herricks is the
Petrel.

18
"Where's Ramon?"

19
 "Late as usual! We're
not going to spoil the
whole day again, for him
- let's start!"

20
  "Look at the softy in
his minstrel clothes -
going to be real reck-
less and sail around 
the harbor."

21
  "Yes, sir, a yacht
pulled out a few
minutes ago."

22
  "It's tame to what it 
used to be, sonny - but
if some of those ships 
could talk, there'd be 
queer tales."

23
  "I know where we 
can get a drink, if 
you've got the change."

24
"I'll take grape juice."

25
  "Well mate - here's
happy days."

26
Some vessels, like 
men, acquire an evil
reputation in every 
port - such as "The 
Heart of China."

27
"Slippery" Kitchell, her
captain, and leader of a
band of sea-outlaws
operating between San 
Francisco and the Mexi-
can coast.

	WALTER LONG.

28
  "What d'you bring 
me this for? I want
a second mate - not
a dancing master."

29
  "If this is a joke, it's
gone far enough - put 
me ashore at once."

30
  "Angel child, I'm
really pained I can't 
oblige you."

31
"Git for 'd!"

32
  "I don't generally
give an order twice,
dearie - Now then,
lively!"

33
Charlie, the cook and
steward.

	GEORGE KUWA.

34
  "Get Lillee of the
Vallee here an outfit -
I'll make a seaman out 
o' him yet - seaman or
shark-bait!"

35
  "Boss captain, him
velly hard-boiled egg -
you bletter say goo-bye
'Flisco."

36
Back on Nob Hill the fair
Josephine refuses to be
worried by Ramon's dis-
appearance.

37
 "At times I feel like
chucking this crowd -
running away some-
where, just to escape
from it all."

38
  "Sonny, looks like we'll
make a second mate out
o' you yet - I need a man
with two fists. Do ye
know navigation?"

39
  "Well - I've navigated 
a yacht."

40
  "We're all shareholders
on this ship, an' you'll get
yours - anything from 
wrecking to pearl-poaching,
sonny - but don't try any 
flim-flam, or -"

41
  "Well - I don't think I'll
feel good in the belly of a
shark."

42
The Lady Letty, south-
bound in the same waters.

43
The ever-present menace 
of a coal cargo-fire and
deadly gas!

44
  "Coal-gas! The cargo's
afire!"

45
  "Man the pumps - - 
We must flood the hold!"

46
  "Fool! Let air into that 
gas and we'll all be 
blown to blazes!"

47
  "You take the wheel -
send Nels to me!"

48
"Water -- more water!"

49
  "She's liable to blow up
any minute - - clear the
boat - - quick!"

50
"You cowardly dogs!"

51
A grim dawn for ships 
that have passed in the 
night.

52
I am in need of assistance.

53
  "She's a derelict - what
a chance for loot!"

54
  "Coal gas - wiped 'em
all out!"

55
  "One of the crew -
clean loco from the gas."

56
"Good Lord! A girl!"

57
While Kitchell hunts loot,
Ramon brings Moran
aboard the smuggler.

58
"Boss better no find out."

59
  "Burn, damn ye, burn
- if I can't loot ye nobody
else will."

60
Kitchell drowns his dis-
appointment.

61
  "An' the only loot I got
was the rum an' a locoed
sailor."

62
  "Bring in the locoed 
sailor - let's have a look 
at him."

63
  "Well, billy-be-damn!
If it ain't a she-sailor!"

64
  "Father - the Lady
Letty - where - ?"

65
  "Gone up in smoke -
nothin' left but you, 
dearie."

66
  "Keepin' secrets from
your captain, eh - Lillee
of the Vallee?"

67
  "Dinner ready, boss
captain."

68
  "That's Cap'n Sterner-
son's gal - I sailed with
'em once - she's a durn 
good seaman, too."

69
  "You don't remember 
me?"

70
  "Oh, yes - the softy
in his minstrel clothes."

71
  "So you've met before,
eh?"

72
  "How do you come to 
be aboard this ship?"

73
  "We sent Lillee of the 
Vallee a special invite to
be our guest on this trip,
mum."

74
In the quiet midnight 
watch.

75
"Where's Kitchell?"

76
  "He go in gal's room -
Charlie see."

77
  "What the blazes are
you swabs doin' in my
cabin?"

78
  "Cap'n Kitchell, we're
share-holders on this
vy'ge an' we ain't agoin'
to see it messed up on
account of no woman."

79
  "Aw, wot's eatin' ye,
anyway? I jist looked in
to see if she was tucked
in proper."

80
  "Kitchell, your humor
is excellent."

81
  "Git for'd, men - she'll
be all right with Lillee of 
the Vallee to look after
her."

82
Kitchell's destination - a
secret rendezvous on
the Mexican coast, well-
hidden from the police 
of four nations.

83
  "He's got something
up his sleeve."

84
  "Yes - but we've got
to wait till he shows his
hand."

85
Poncho - Kitchell's part-
ner, and chief of the nest
of outlaws.

	CECIL HOLLAND.

86
"Go on - get cleaned up!"

87
  "Come on, mate - let's
see how it feels to be
ashore again."

88
  "I brought down the
guns for your raid on the
mines -"

89
  "A month ago I was
drinking tea - leading co-
tillions - bored to death -
and now - I'm happier 
than I've ever been."

90
  "Is that the wench you
bought offa me? Say,
Pancho - looks like you
need a new one."

91
Chopstick Charlie con-
cludes that when a man
makes love to a maid,
one of them should
wear skirts.

92
  "You sellum Charlie
dless?"

93
  "Moran - I never knew
a girl could be like you -
I had no idea what life 
was until I met you."

94
  "I don't like that kind 
of talk. I never could care 
for a man - I'm not made 
for men."

95
  "This girl Moran -
she's pretty - and young
- what'll you gimme for
her?"

96
  "How'll you square it 
with your crew and the
dude you talked about?"

97
  "I want to lose that 
crew anyway - we'll
throw 'em to the sharks
when we go out to
unload the ship tonight."

98
  "I ought to have been 
born a boy."

99
Warned of their danger,
the crew make use of
Kitchell's cargo.

100
  "We'll have to wait for
an off-shore breeze and
the ebb-tide."

101
If the devil were a shep-
herd, here come his 
sheep!

102
  "We are a strange pair 
to die together, mate -"

103
  "- but we can do that
better than - better than
we could have - lived
together."

104
  "Whatever happens,
Moran, I'm your mate -
nothing can take that 
away from us."

105
  "Back up there, Kitch-
ell - we've got the drop
on you!"

106
  "Moran - Moran - it's 
your mate!"

107
  "Stand by, men -
here's the wind, and the
tide's turning."

108
  "Charlie, him die pletty 
soon - got um plesent fo'
you."

109
  "Melica gal hab dless
- no mak-um love in
pants."

110
Homeward bound.

111
  "Well, Moran - it's
good-bye to our troubles,
isn't it?"

112
  "Yes, mate - but they
helped me to know
myself - to know that
there was just you and I
in the world and nothing
else mattered."

113
  "We'll be in San Diego
in an hour, and tomor-
row night the ball. Don't
forget, Jo, you promised
to lead the grand march
with me."

114
Back to the world again -
San Diego harbor.

115
And that evening a dance
is going on at a fashion-
able hotel in honor of the
arrival of the Herricks'
yacht in San Diego.

116
  "Moran, I must find a 
telephone and call my
people in San Francisco."

117
  "I'll wait for you here, 
mate."

118
  "I don't know what it 
can be - Maybe some-
one's lost a brooch."

119
  "Ramon Laredo is 
alive! He's in the lobby."

120
  "Moran'll never see 
Lillee of the Valley again 
- I bet he'll go back to his 
society folks - we'll see 
when we go ashore."

121
  "That ship was a 
floating school to me - it
carried me into a new 
world."

122
  "You all may think 
I'm crazy but - I'm a dif-
ferent sort than I went 
away."

123
  "Ramon - are you as
glad as I am that you've
come back -"

124
"- back to me?"

125
  "Jo - I - I must return
to the ship."

126
  "Come on upstairs,
old chap, I'll fit you out
and you can join the 
party."

127
  "Sorry - I'm in no 
mood for a party to-
night."

128
With the crew ashore,
Moran, left alone, waits 
- - and wonders.

129
  "So your sweet little 
Lillee of the Vallee has 
ditched you and gone 
back to his high-toned 
friends, eh?"

130
  "Help, mate! - oh,
mate, where are you?"

131
  "Oh mate - I thought
I'd lost you."

132
  "It looks like Lillee of 
the Vallee ain't expectin'
us."

133
  "It is good to be a girl, 
after all."